Ontario Greens Plan To Stop Hwy 417 Expansion & Cut Transit Costs If Elected
"Doug Ford's sprawl agenda is making life more expensive."
Mike Schreiner. Right: Ontario's Highway 417.
Ontario's provincial election is on June 2, and political parties are promising everything from the banning of handguns to free birth control to get people to vote for them.
Now, the Ontario Green Party said they'll be "making public transit better and more affordable" in Canada's capital if they're elected.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner announced in a news release on April 25 that the party plans to "stop the sprawl and build affordable and livable communities" in Ottawa. Here's how they said they'll do it:
- Cancel the provincial government's plan to make Highway 417 wider, which they said could increase pollution, "undermine" transit use and promote "expensive sprawl."
- Cut transit fees by 50% in Ottawa for three months, which they believe will help with current rising gas prices and the cost of living crisis in the short term.
- Make long-term affordable transit a reality by "restoring the 50% provincial cost-share for transit operations" in municipalities across the province.
- Encourage people to use transit during less busy hours by incorporating cheaper "time-of-day" pricing.
"We're in a cost of living crisis and a climate crisis. And we can address both at the same time by making transit more affordable, accessible, frequent and reliable," expressed Schreiner.
According to the release, Ottawa's ridership has yet to come back to the levels that it was at before the pandemic, with the number of riders in 2021 averaging only 32% of what it was in 2019.